The Cost of a Parking Spot in DC

April 11, 2014
4 Comments

by Lark Turner

The Cost of a Parking Spot in DC: Figure 1

Lately UrbanTurf has looked at length at DC’s endemic parking issues. But what will permanently solving the problem of circling your home for a spot cost you? We decided to take a closer look at the current cost of buying a parking space in various parts of the city, as well as how much it would cost to rent a spot in those neighborhoods. Here’s the rundown:

Buying

Last time we took a look at parking spots for sale, Georgetown and Dupont Circle took the top spots when it came to cost — no surprise given the price of real estate and general scarcity of parking in those two neighborhoods. Other neighborhoods are now catching up.

The general thinking when we covered the cost of parking in 2011 was that a space in most sections of the city would run you $25,000 to $30,000, whether you were purchasing an individual space or factoring in the cost when buying a home that included a spot. Now, you would need to tack another $5,000 to $10,000 on to that price tag. Prices have risen most notably in Columbia Heights and Logan Circle, where a garage spot would run you about $35,000, compared to $25,000 in 2011.

Here is a sampling of what parking spots around town are asking:

An indoor spot in a Columbia Heights garage — $35,000.
An spot at a Cleveland Park garage — $40,000, with a $5/month fee.
An indoor spot in Logan Circle — $35,000.
An outdoor spot at a condominium near Stadium Armory Metro — $8,000.
An UrbanTurf reader recently wrote in saying that she had pegged the value of her outdoor parking space in Glover Park at $40,000. She paid $27,000 in 2008.

The far-and-away winner of the parking price competition in this round is a single-space garage at 1716 34th Street NW listed at $97,500. Even for Georgetown, the price seems high, and the garage has been on the market for quite a while.

Renting

For comparison, here’s how much it would cost you to rent a spot in different areas around the city, using data from Parking Spotter and Craigslist:

Georgetown: $185-$300/month
Dupont Circle: $200-$300/month, highly dependent on distance to Metro
Capitol Hill: $120-$250/month, highly dependent on distance to Capitol
Columbia Heights: $100-$200/month
Cleveland Park: $100-$200/month
Logan Circle: $175-$275/month

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_cost_of_a_parking_spot_in_dc/8348

4 Comments

lauren said at 3:54 pm on Friday April 11, 2014:
I bought a two-bedroom condo in Columbia Heights back in 2010, and paid a premium of probably around $20,000 for the parking space that conveyed. The tax assessment hasn't changed much since then, but I suspect the space is worth closer to $30,000 now, given how tight parking has become.

Los said at 5:07 pm on Friday April 11, 2014:
I bought a place in AdMo back in 2012 and paid $40K for parking spot. Currently renting it for $250/mo.

soulshadow55 said at 7:21 pm on Friday April 11, 2014:
I purchased a rowhouse that's about 7 blocks from the Columbia Heights metro. I purchased it in 1996 a few years before the station opened. The house came with two fenced parking spaces in the rear alley. I rent one space for $125.00 a month to a neighbor whose house doesn't have parking. From the looks of what others are charging I need to increase my price.

Shmew said at 2:08 pm on Friday October 24, 2014:
Good article. How much would you value a condo garage parking space in Alexandria, near the Eisenhower metro?